Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment. Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~ Mary Howell Cromer

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Finally, at Last, My Very Own Encounter With a Zebra Swallowtail~

A few years ago, I had my very first encounter ever with one of these amazing butterflies.

It was a Spring form with 2.5 a inch wingspan.

The Summer form has a 4.1 inch wingspan.

My first encounter, ended up with me as usual, chasing it down and getting no image, not even close.

Then a year ago this past spring, one flew across the gardens and lawn next door, but never stayed to nourish itself and by the time, I went around our fenced it yard, it was no where to be found.

Then came yesterday and oh my what a great short story.

I was coming home on Covered Bridge Road, a 2 lane country road, with lots of pasture land.

We had just passed the entrance to Foxhollow Farm and something caught my peripheral from the left, something large and light coloured, fluttering above the flowers. I did a quick turn around and guess what...there it was. I have included an image of the lane, and can you imagine my good fortune to have taken that quick glance and then went for the moment...

It was so thrilling, and just as soon as I had taken way too many images of a single butterfly, it gave up it's nourishment and flew across the road, and into the cow pasture, and just like that it was gone.

Wow looks like you got a lot of pictures. Probably hard to choose which one to publish in this post. They are fantastic Mary... We have one similar butterfly in France, but it is quite hard to get nice pictures like that. Does not stop to fly!!

Wonderful captures of this striking butterfly. The paw-paw tree is the only host plant for this species. Funny how when we have a subject in mind we desire our minds are on super alert. Just a glimpse of movement can can trigger a response even if we are not knowingly seeking the subject at the time.

I love and enjoy each visitor to "Red Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove and Beyond." I truly appreciate those who have become followers to my blog and really am encouraged by the wonderful comments. I also enjoy leaving comments and would like to ask that you please make your blog word verification free! You still have top security settings and you still have control over the comments published. It would make it so much easier, if you would consider doing this. I switched several months ago and am thrilled with the results~

Canticle Of The Sun

~ My Heart Song ~

My desire is to share the very essence of nature through photography which awakens and refreshes me, in that I breathe more deeply, take heart in the stillness it brings, and cherish the fleeting moments in this delicate balance of the rhythmic poetry and whispers of life and always thirst for more. From 9 years of age, I have enjoyed wildlife and nature. That is when my awareness of it's beauty and mystery began to form.

Back in the late 1970's my husband and I became interested in Raptors. We obtained a Federal Permit to Rehab and Release Birds of Prey. We also worked with the Louisville Zoo Administrator Dr. William Foster on this program. I later joined Kentucky Wildlife Line and was covered by a blanket permit, to rehab and release small mammals, for another 8 years. In 1996, I first took notice of a beautiful pair of Red-Shouldered hawks that had nested on our 2 acres, and that was a gift, that just keeps on giving.

One day I was on Google wondering if anyone else out there loved Red-Shouldered Hawks, like I do. I came across a single site...one done by Vickie Henderson. I had never heard of a blog, but she introduced me and encouraged me to begin my own. That was in June of 2009. My blog "Red-Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove and Beyond", is just one way to share the images from my world.

Normandy Life

Mosaic Monday

Saturday's Critters

Wild Bird Wednesday

Visitors

Having loved horses my entire life, I began creating these Equestrians in the late 1990's, prior to the now famed Gallopalooza horses which later came on the scene. Tingsgrove Equestrians are made using layers of upholstery fabrics that I blend together and then apply to molded forms. Many of these have been sold around the country and shipped as far as Europe~

Nature and photography go hand in hand in my life. My husband has done many nature watercolurs in the past, though, retired from painting these days. It seemed only natural to share one of my favorites on my nature blog~Two Hummingbirds~